Amy Schumer has been diagnosed with Cushing syndrome, she revealed on Friday. The condition is caused by excessive cortisol – the hormone associated with stress – and Schumer said that she was in the process of testing and diagnosing the illness over the last few weeks. She discussed the condition with journalist Jessica Yellin for her newsletter News Not Noise.
“I feel reborn,” Schumer said. “There are a few types of Cushing. Some that can be fatal, require brain surgery or removal of the adrenal glands.” As for her personal experience, Schumer said she was in the middle of tests and treatments while doing the press tour to promote her Hulu original series Life & Beth Season 2. That’s when fans began to comment on her appearance, worrying that her face looked “puffier” than usual. Schumer said that the commentary caused her even more stress at the time, though it also spurred her to seek treatment at last.
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“Thank god for that,” she said. “Because that’s how I realized something was wrong. Just like when I realized I had named my son something that didn’t sound so good. The internet is undefeated, as they say.” The testing put Schumer “in MRI machines four hours at a time, having my veins shut down from the amount of blood drawn and thinking I may not be around to see my son grow up.”
Schumer said that all the testing eventually revealed she has “the kind of Cushing that will just work itself out and I’m healthy,” which “was the greatest news imaginable. It has been a crazy couple weeks for me and my family.” This was a reversal for Schumer, who had previously clapped back at commenters wondering why her face looked different. In a post on Instagram at the time, she wrote: “Thank you so much for everyone’s input about my face! I’ve enjoyed feedback and deliberation about my appearance as all women do for almost 20 years. And you’re right it is puffier than normal right now.”
According to a report by the Mayo Clinic, Cushing Syndrome is caused by having high levels of cortisol in one’s system for a prolonged period of time. Symptoms can include unique forms of weight gain, including holding extra body fat in the face. It may also cause a distinctive fat deposit between the shoulders, and pink or purple-colored stretch marks. It can lead to other conditions including high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and bone loss.
Life & Beth premiered on Feb. 16 and is streaming now on Hulu, along with Season 1. Schumer has two other upcoming projects listed on IMDb – Unfrosted: The Pop-Tart Story due out later this year and and a movie called Kinda Pregnant, which is now in pre-production. Presumably, Schumer is employing new techniques to reduce stress in the meantime.
